East Nusa Tenggara remains poor<\/p>\n
By Yemris Fointuna<\/p>\n
KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): East Nusa Tenggara or NTT,
\nthe southeast province of 566 islands, has a large wealth of
\nuntapped natural resources in its arid land and vast waters.<\/p>\n
The people of NTT, or Flobamora, are hospitable and hard
\nworking. In the past, owing to its beauty and appeal, the
\nterritory was a magnet for westerners in search of spices.<\/p>\n
Its unfertile soil, though, has not robbed the archipelago of
\nits various natural wonders and cultural diversity. While other
\nprovinces enjoy six months of wet season a year, NTT only has
\nfour months of it.<\/p>\n
Among its most precious assets are sandalwood, which can be
\nfound in Timor and Sumba, the triple-colored Lake Kelimutu in
\nEnde-Flores, Komodo dragons (monitor lizards) in Komodo island
\nand rare canaries in Alor.<\/p>\n
Now, 56 years after Indonesia achieved independence, NTT's
\ndevelopment continues to be neglected. Social welfare and
\ndecentralization have only been a mere slogan inherited from the
\nNew Order era.<\/p>\n
NTT has been almost unchanged for the past 32 years. Only a
\nfew privileged people have enjoyed education.<\/p>\n
Of the region's population of 3.9 million who are scattered in
\nan area of 47,349 square kilometers, 80 percent are poor, while
\nan estimated 1.39 million of them are jobless.<\/p>\n
The various poverty eradication programs in NTT have been
\nmisused by corrupt officials both in Jakarta and in this
\nprovince. The province has received presidential aid, fuel
\nsubsidies, and not to mention grants and assistance from the
\nWorld Bank, the United States Agency for Development (USAID) and
\nother donor countries. However, a large portion of the funds has
\ngone unaccounted.<\/p>\n
NTT's 13 regencies and one municipality, viz regencies of
\nKupang, Southern Central Timor, Northern Central Timor, Belu,
\nAlor, East Flores, Manggarai, Ngada, Ende, Lembata, Sikka, East
\nSumba, West Sumba and Kupang municipality, are equally
\nimpoverished and disadvantaged in terms of education and health
\ncare.<\/p>\n
In 1980, NTT's literacy rate was only 65.01 percent. It rose
\nto 81.48 percent in 1997. Today, the number of illiterates here
\nis 376,170; elementary school dropouts, 989,890; those who have
\ncompleted elementary school, 880,890; those who have completed
\njunior high school, 240,000, those who have completed high
\nschool, 155,000; and those with university degrees, 45,762,
\naccording to official figures.<\/p>\n
The region's lack of qualified human resources considerably
\naffects its development plans. Eighty percent of the people of
\nNTT live in isolated villages. Most of the people in the
\nprovince's 2,207 villages and 309 subdistricts are involved in
\nagriculture, farming and forestry, but yet find it hard to earn a
\ndecent living.<\/p>\n
Eres Erasmus Sikki, head of Tunbaun village in Amarasi
\ndistrict, Kupang regency, said the development activities so far
\nhad been concentrated in urban areas.<\/p>\n
Eres' statement has some truth. For example, it takes between
\nthree hours and four hours to reach the hilly Tunbaun, which is
\nonly 40 kilometers from the NTT capital of Kupang because the
\nroad leading to it is very bumpy. In the wet season, the village,
\nwhich serves as Kupang's major food supplier, becomes
\ninaccessible by car.<\/p>\n
However, roads in the urban areas are tarred and well-
\nmaintained. This contrast is, among others, the result of a
\nstrategy known as \"rural development by urban bureaucrats\". Rural
\ndevelopment plans were made without seeking inputs from
\nvillagers. Thus the rural people did not benefit from the
\ndevelopment programs.<\/p>\n
The poor infrastructure in rural areas has hampered
\ntransportation of agricultural produce from the rural areas to
\nurban markets. Consequently, the children's education is
\nsacrificed because their parent's cannot earn enough money.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, NTT's villagers, whose houses are made of bamboo
\nstems and dried grass, do not live in sanitary surroundings as
\nthey share their homes with cattle and poultry.<\/p>\n
Infant mortality in the province stands at 47.7 per 1,000 live
\nbirths and the maternity death rate is 86.0 per 1,000 live
\nbirths. The life expectancy is 61.8 years for males and 65.6
\nyears for females.<\/p>\n
NTT's hilly topography and vast span of islands make access by
\nany mode of transportation difficult. NTT only has 13 general
\nhospitals, 209 public health centers (Puskesmas) and 171 mobile
\nhealth service units. Hospitals and health facilities are also
\nsituated far from rural settlements.<\/p>\n
Health personnel is also far too small in number compared to
\nthe region's population. NTT only has 212 physicians, 2,381
\nnurses and 2,397 midwives.<\/p>\n
The economic activities of villagers in NTT are far less
\ndynamic than those of people living in urban areas. Although most
\nof NTT's villagers spend the whole day farming or looking after
\ntheir livestock, they only earn a small amount of money. They
\nsell their produce once a week in the city if transportation is
\navailable.<\/p>\n
NTT's economic growth rate is only 2.89 percent while its per
\ncapita income is Rp 1.3 million a year. NTT's economic plight is
\nreal. Some NTT villagers can only afford to eat twice a day of
\nmeager portions of nutritionally poor food.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-nusa-tenggara-remains-poor-1447893297",
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